In Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, one of the most confusing yet creatively satisfying moments was when Batman had a vision of the future. In this future, not much was explained but we did see that the Earth was under Darkseid’s rulership. This was obvious from the omega symbol burned into the Earth, presumably by his enforcer Superman.
During Zack Snyder’s recent Q&A at the nicknamed “Snydercon,” he gives more details on his original concept for that scene. According to Snyder, “The truth is that, the Knightmare sequence in this movie was always my idea that all of that would eventually be explained…[in the] distant future, where Darkseid has taken over Earth…[and] a few members of the Justice League that had survived in that world…were fighting.”
For why The Flash travels back in time to the events of Batman V Superman in particular, Snyder alludes that The Flash uses the cosmic treadmill, partially powered or built with Cyborg, to warn Bruce of future events. His dialogue during the vision is also in reference to how Darkseid was originally set to murder Lois Lane in the Batcave.
This would be during unknown events which had Superman trust Batman with Lois’ safety. The result of this action would be Superman “breaking” from the loss of his love which allows him to be controlled via the Anti-Life Equation. This is why Superman looks at Batman with such hate when he’s captured during the “Knightmare” vision.
It’s worth noting that these details relate to the original version of Justice League Part 1, which according to Snyder was written by the time Batman V Superman released into theaters. However, Warner Bros. had second-thoughts about such a dark version of a Justice League story causing a total rewrite. This rewrite is what is infamously known as the “Snydercut” which Kevin Smith claims to have seen storyboards of.
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